


first contact

by anstaar



Series: becoming habit [1]
Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Coffee, First Meetings, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-06
Updated: 2011-07-06
Packaged: 2017-10-21 02:41:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/219995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anstaar/pseuds/anstaar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Xav meets his future wife for the first time</p>
            </blockquote>





	first contact

Ro was halfway to the university when she met him for the first time. She should've been a lot closer but her first class was Physics, which she had only taken because of Toni which wasn't a good way to structure her class schedule and, besides, hadn't worked. So, she was halfway to the university and halfway late to class but popped into the coffee shop anyway because Physics was pass-fail and a caffeine addiction was forever. The place was mostly empty. The bored teen behind the counter fiddled with his handhold. A night security guard was dozing over a sandwich. Three students cuddled in a booth. It was rather, soothing, all in all. Ro was seriously considering following the guard's example (she may have been up to three the night before, footnoting her paper) when the off-worlder walked in.   
  
It was odd to see an off-worlder. The shop was four levels down from the station and far away from anything anyone not from Beta colony might want to see (there wasn't anything someone from Beta colony would want to see either, but at least it was on their route) but Ro knew he was an off-worlder from his walk. It was a man, probably younger than he looked to her Betan eyes, with thick, dark hair cut very short and eyes that squinted in the dim light. His face was a bit sand burned; his clothes were a lot thicker than was usual wear this season and she couldn't see the familiar glinting in his ears. All that could've just been a kid with bad luck and weird tastes. His walk, though, was wrong. It was cautious, like he hadn't been in a hundred coffee shops before he could walk, and a bit shuffling, like he was unused to the smooth metal of the floors and underneath that there was a hint of a march to his steps.  
  
The man scanned the whole shop before he approached the counter and ordered a bun in a low voice marked with an accent Ro had never heard before. Then he stood there, bun in hand, staring at the tables at the tables and she knew for sure that he couldn't be much older than her, whatever the lines on his face said to her. His eyes darted toward the guard's uniform and he looked almost afraid of the giggling students so Ro ignored her practical knowledge of the problems in dealing with off-worlders and waved him off with a smile.   
  
He came over and stood by her table. He wasn't that tall but he still managed to project a loom, Ro took a sip of coffee and suppressed her unease, "are you going to sit down, or what?" She asked after almost thirty increasingly awkward seconds passed. He tugged at a sleeve before sitting down across from her.  
  
"Sorry," the accent was still untraceable, "do you want something?"  
  
"Well, I did have a free seat I wanted you to take," she said and hid a smile at his flush; he was definitely younger than her.  
  
"Thank you. There wasn't as much room in here as I believed there would be."  
  
"It's no problem, we're used to crowding. Must be a bit more open where you come from." Ro barely managed to restrain herself from touching his arm. She was flirting rather freely considering he had no earring and it was doubtful that he could read hers. Still, that was half the fun of strangers.    
  
"Yes, and we have a lot more sky. It's hard spending most of the day underground," he said, eyes flashing toward the ceiling for a moment.   
  
"Are you part of the new embassy?" She asked and he blinked in open surprise. She grinned, "There aren't that many other reasons to find an off-worlder down here."  
  
His shoulders relaxed slightly. "Oh. Yes, I am. Honestly, though," he rubbed the back of his head, "I'm actually a bit lost. I was hoping to find a map or get directions." Ro laughed and this time took his hand.  
  
"Don't worry about it, I'll take you. There's no way you're going to understand the system from any map you find round here, if you could even find one. Most people use their Comms."  
  
"There is really no need," he said. He looked rather adorably flustered so she doesn't let go of his hand, instead pulling him up after her.  
  
"No worries, it's practically my civic duty. I'm Ro, by the way."  
  
"Oh, sorry," he flushed again, "right, I'm Xav. It is nice to meet you. Thank you so much for your help." She was so bringing him home to meet Lucy.


End file.
